


Swimming and Soaking

by jynx



Series: The Sea Siren [9]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 18:16:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7449313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jynx/pseuds/jynx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kili and Fili enjoy some time off together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swimming and Soaking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rililis](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=rililis).



> This is a prize to rililis for winning me in the Raffle. :D The request was for some well earned fluff.

Fili dragged his rowboat further up the beach so it wouldn’t float off and watched Kili swim lazily in the shallows. He anchored it, making sure it was secured, and put his sandy hands on his hips.

“You going to stay fish?” he asked.

“Thinking,” Kili answered before scooting back down to cover himself in the water.

Fili watched the clear blue water cloud with sand and shook his head, smiling. His mer was so odd. He glanced up at the sun—not too high yet— and then out at the little slip of land Kili had led him to. It wasn’t much of anything, really. It was more like a large horseshoe of beach surrounded by water, though the water color did seem to change from the center of the island to the outside. Maybe it was part lagoon?

Fili went over to look, squatting down and sticking his hand in the murkier colored water, and smiled. Warm.

“Can swim,” Kili said from the other edge of the water. “Is safe. Warm. Good soaking."

“Going to join me?” Fili asked.

Kili held up a finned hand. “Not good. Bad. Burns."

“So change,” Fili said, peeling his shirt off and untying his pants. He was undressed and stretching out the kinks in his back by the time he heard the soft swish of water and then the slap of flesh against sand. He turned back to the water and watched Kili shift, a tiny frown tugging his lips as he reached up to scratch at his mustaches.

The mer's body twisted about as he clawed at the sand, gills sealing and sinking into his ribs and neck and he gasped, lungs filling with air from his mouth and throat. His webbed hands twisted, the longer and sharper extremities shrinking and cracking into smaller, more human-like fingers. Fili knelt down next to him, grabbing one of those hands and holding on as the rest of the the transformation ripped through Kili.

The hard, spinny fin along Kili’s back stretched out wide and sank into his spine, slowly and leaving behind the thin membrane of fin sliding down Kili’s waist. Kili’s sharper teeth began to fall out, blunting, and falling bloodily into the sand. First time Fili had seen them he’d thought them shark teeth. The fins that trailed along Kili’s tail slid off, leaving blood behind, and then the scales began to shed. Some were absorbed into Kili’s skin as his tail morphed into tanned legs with scales just below the surface of his skin while others just fell into sand.

Kili lay in the sand a few moment later, panting and flushed, his hair sticking to him. Fili leaned in close, kissing a shoulder, and brushed his hair out of his face. Kili mumbled and turned into him. “Tired,” he said. “Stay with legs.” He kicked the limbs in question.

Fili nodded and helped Kili to his feet. He had known that Kili got tired from changing and he did know that Kili had been changing more often to spend time with him. But he didn’t know how much it hurt. Maybe he should knock it off, let the mer stay a fish more often, but there was something so exquisite about his human form and he loved spending time with him. Kili leaned heavily into Fili, looking at him from under his lashes, smiling.

“C’mon, soaking,” Fili said. “I want you in my arms."

Kili made a happy noise, nuzzling up against him, and—while it was hard to walk that way—they ended up in the water without too much issue. The water smelled of sulfur and was warm, and Fili felt his muscles begin to relax. Maybe he should bring his Uncle to one of these places; Thorin could definitely use a relaxing break.

Kili stretched and floated, twisting this way and that. “Sore,” he sighed. “Sore. Ouch."

Fili frowned. “Sore?"

“Bad fight. Bad change. Hungry,” Kili smirked and snapped his dulled teeth at Fili. “Am fine.” He paused and was silent for a moment. “Complaining,” he said slowly, sounding the word out.

Fili grinned, proud of his mer. “Come here, tell me all about your fight,” he said, arms wide.

With a wave of his arm and a tiny kick, Kili drifted back over to him and curled up in Fili’s arms. “Mighty octopus,” Kili said seriously. “Eating lobster, crab. Not bad. Eat dogfish, tiny shark.” A frisson of a shudder worked its way through Kili’s body. “Also not bad. Big octopus, eat baby mer. Not old. Barely swim. Octopus not stop eating. Must stop it, King say. Many of us fight. All go. Very serious."

Fili nodded. The death of a child was no laughing matter.

“Octopus very big. Very hungry. Take five mer to stop. Three hurt bad."

“Is that why you were swimming slower?” Fili asked.

Kili looked a little annoyed. “Swimming slow for you."

“Ah, I see,” Fili said, keeping his mouth shut.

Kili huffed. “Octopus stopped."

“What did you do with it?"

Kili bared his now blunt teeth. “Eat."

Fili blinked. Well. That answered that.

Kili nuzzled at him. Fili pulled the mer against him, gathering him close, and kissed his forehead. He breathed the smell of warm sulphur and seaweed, listening to the low murmur of Kili’s idle cooing, and closed his eyes. They both could use this respite. Kili from his underwater responsibilities and his changes, Fili from his ship.

Thorin had been running the crew hard, looking for some mysterious treasure and Fili needed the time away to remember why he supported his uncle. He wanted to spend time with Kili, to love his perfect treasure, his mer, and to not worry about things beyond his control. Now, though, here? He’s got everything he needs and more.


End file.
